Good evening. It’s Anastasia and I’m not going to stay long. I’m heading out to the casbah tonight and I just thought I’d pop by and say hi. I’m meeting a girlfriend over there and we’re planning on giving ourselves something to talk about next week.
Speaking of strange places to drink alcohol, have you ever been to The Owl? I believe the official name is The Owl Wine Bar & Home Goods Store, but that’s a lot of words, so I just usually call it The Owl. If you spell it out, though, make sure you use the ampersand; they’re kind of picky about those things.
Anyway, I just love to pop in there on Friday and Saturday evenings. Friday they have open mic and Saturday they have a musician or small band or something. I have so much fun going there, getting a bottle of wine and sitting with some friends to talk. I like to sit on one of the sofas or soft chairs. I’m not really one to sit on a barstool. Much. Any more. Much.
And they have a menu of munchies. I’ll never forget the time I offered my cousin Myrna a piece off of my plate. She had been trying to eat more healthy and I had a Mediterranean plate. It seemed nice and light and she said she’d been eating more vegetables and trying new dishes, so I gave her one the of dolmas, thinking she’d love it. The look on her face when she bit into it let me know I was oh-so-very wrong about that. I shouldn’t laugh because I love Cousin Myrna dearly, but her face hides nothing. The sour, desperate look on her face made me laugh and feel bad at the same time. I discreetly handed her a few napkins to relieve herself of that unsavory burden.
The lighting is nice because the ceilings are about a hundred and fifty feet high, so the lights don’t glare down on anybody. They have nice lamps and it makes a very nice atmosphere, with the original wooden floor and wooden ceiling. And one day I’ll tell you the story of how they got their name. Our little town has been famous a more than a few times.
It’s so fun to go there because they have the place laid out so nice, with little nooks and crannies everywhere and just wonderful things for a strange home. They have nice pillows for sofas and chairs, but they also have magnifying glasses that look like something Agatha Christie would have used. And I don’t know why you’d buy a candle anywhere else. They have the most darling candles in little metal bins, or glass jars. They’re not French Vanilla; these are scents I love having in my home. They even have one with tobacco and patchouli.
I found a very nice gift for my cousin Jackson a few weeks ago. Actually, it was for him and his wife; I just didn’t tell him that. They have these handsome kits for men; a Swiss army knife, or a shaving kit. I got him a very nice ‘manly’ manicure set. It came in a rugged-looking case and the typography was straight out of a hunting magazine ad. His wife told me that he loved it so much, he used it. So, that was my gift to her; he can keep his overgrown spiky toenails under control.
Well listen, I don’t want to keep you. I’m going to head out and meet up with my girlfriends. Check for us in next week’s Elgin Courier. I’ve never caused a big enough scandal to make it into our little newspaper, but it doesn’t keep me from trying.
We’ll see you.